Analog and MCUs stand out: Dr. Bobby Mitra, TI

It is always a pleasure to listen to Dr. Biswadip (Bobby) Mitra, president and managing director, Texas Instruments India. Therefore, when Texas Instruments India invited me to a media roundtable, it was an event to look forward too. However, the famous Bangalore traffic jam held me up so long that I missed out on most of Dr Mitra's keynote! Nevertheless, I did catch some bits of it toward the end.

Dr. Mitra noted that LEDs and lighting applications are becoming a key area for growth in India. He added that the industrial segment is just right in terms of applications in electronics growth.

In telecom, analog and MCUs stand out. "Every single customer has to use analog as part of its system design. Our no. 1 position in analog gives us a unique position," he added.

MCUs play a very important role in a huge number of areas -- from consumer appliances, energy meters, lighting products etc. There is a huge customer base in India where very large application specific innovation has been happening.

In India, TI has set up a strong sales network across 14 locations, giving it a pan-India presence. Dr. Mitra added: "We want to tap the India market with sales support and applications support. You need to work hand in hand with the OEMs. We also need to get closer to our customers." TI India supports both Indian and MNC OEMs.

"The amount of system designs being done by the MNC OEMs in India is pretty high. The third area -- design houses -- these OEMs are their customers. The fourth area belongs to the EMS players," he said.

The visit to TI was virtually a walk into TI India's 'kitchen.' The roundtable participants were shown demos of some really cool products and applications, especially the handheld pico projector, which also played 3D cinema!

The sessions were largely focused on analog, low power and energy efficiency, metering, solar PV/solar inverters, LEDs, medical electronics, etc. -- all key areas of focus for the Indian electronics and semiconductor industries.

I will add bits from the other speakers at this event later. Stay tuned folks!